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“Will I get to meet her before the wedding? Oh, on that note, I thought we could also get the measurements for the wedding dress, but maybe Stella can just forward them to me and I’ll have dresses picked out and ready to go when she gets back in town. She will be back, right? We’ll also need to go over venues in your preferred city. And rings.” Juniper plucked her spiraledday planner from her bag and slid it open with the golden ribbon holding her spot. “Honestly, I didn’t get too much done last night in the way of planning the actual wedding. There’s so much to get done so I was moving all my other responsibilities over to my assistant for her to handle. I’ll need to talk with Stella soon on anything she would like me to include in the details. Maybe we can do a video chat, or she could?—”
A warm hand came down on hers and she paused mid-thought.
“Breathe, Juniper.”
“Sorry, am I going too fast? When I get into planner mode, it can be a hassle to keep up.”
“Not at all. Dress, location, rings. I got all that.” Marshall took his hand back and rubbed his neck, “About Stella.” A small trill came from the pocket of his coat. He let out a heavy sigh. “Hold that thought, please.”
“Blackwood,” he said stiffly into the earpiece. She felt sorry for whoever was on the other end.
There was so little time. She scribbled a couple of other notes while she waited for Marshall to finish his call.
“Yes, she’s here with me now.” Marshall pulled the phone away from his ear. “Stella says hello and sorry to rush out.”
“It’s okay,” Juniper offered, waving him off.
As he spoke on the phone, Juniper sorted through the mental clutter of thoughts and made lists and more notes in her binder. She pointed out the turns and the small parking lot for Hardt’s and led the way inside.
As he followed and held the door for her the one thought she couldn’t afford took root and refused to budge like a stubborn weed in the summertime. The universe plucked her idea of a perfect man right out of her head down to the way he tilted his cowboy hat ever so slightly in greeting the first time they met to the way he placed a gentle hand on the small of her back as she passed.
She needed to shift her thoughts away from the man she shouldn't have.
Sweet, doughy delicacies pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and filled her senses the second they crossed the threshold. Rows of cookies with yellow frosting and tiny silver balls for decorations overflowed into trays of artfully displayed sugar drops and apple muffins dusted white with confectioners’ sugar. Racks of puffy topped cupcakes and honey glazed buns were displayed at eye level and had Juniper’s mouth watering.
Several tables for two were pushed up along the windows while round tables for larger groups dotted the center of the bakery. Each was filled, and it looked like they may need to order on the go.
A path cleared to the counter when a group finished their order. As she half-listened for Marshall behind her she leaned on the old, familiar polished wood. “Good morning, Mrs. Hardt.”
A robust woman with platinum hair pulled back in a tight bun smiled brightly. “Good to see you, Juniper.” Mrs. Hardt tended the front while her husband worked his magic in the back.
“You’ve got a full house this morning. Everyone doing okay?”
“You know how it is when school lets out and all the high schoolers want coffee and sweets. So what can I get you and your guest, dear?”
“You know I think I’ll go with a large black coffee, two sugars, no cream, and two bear claws. I’m starving.”
“Only you young people can get away with a breakfast like that.”
“I’m taking advantage while I can. As for Mr. Blackwood…,” She turned to look over her shoulder to find him looking down at her with a very odd, curious look to his gaze that drew her in. As though he wanted to see deeper into her soul and hypnotize her all at once.
It almost worked.
Juniper cleared her throat and fought the need to hold his gaze.
“I’ll have the same as the lady, thank you.” Gruff and winded, his words came out forced. As though words cost him or… Nah. She dashed that thought away before it had a chance to flourish. She was reading too much into everything lately. With all the romance in the air coupled with her stress levels, her muse wanted to run amuck the second a guy looked at her like he wanted to know anything and everything about her right that second.
Juniper, you’re crazy. She mentally rolled her eyes at herself.
Someone needed to give her a good kick in the ass. Three hours of sleep was not nearly enough apparently and caused hallucinations.
Two minutes later they slid into their chairs by the front window. “I guess we can get started where I left off in the car.” And skip right on by what just happened, thank you very much. “I’vecreated a list of all the items we’ll need to cover first. Print wedding invites, truth be told though I don’t know if there will be enough time for those. The dress, vows, do you want to personalize them? And the venue. The bride will need to give her approval on the color scheme?—”
“I think my mother and sister have the invites handled. I just got off the phone with Stella, as you know, and she mentioned something about Mom being buried in phone calls and her Rolodex. By now half of Texas is on stand-by for the wedding destination.”
She smiled at him. “They still have those?”
“Apparently. I’ve seen one out in the wild a time or two.” He winked at her and damn if her body didn’t want to take that as a personal invitation to throw herself in his arm and taste his perfect lips. It took copious amounts of will power not to check out his ass as he led the way to their table seconds ago.
